"Partition was in front of the desk" Administrative lawsuit filed
Court: "It is an act of dignity damage... Disciplinary action is lawful"
A senior official of the Korea Coast Guard was reprimanded for taking off his outerwear and making a phone call wearing only his undershirt in an office with female police officers present. The official filed an administrative lawsuit claiming unfairness, but the court ruled the disciplinary action was lawful.
On the 12th, the Incheon District Court Administrative Division 1-1 (Presiding Judge Lee Hyun-seok) announced that it ruled against Police Lieutenant A in a lawsuit seeking to cancel the reprimand issued by the Korea Coast Guard Commissioner.
The court ordered Lieutenant A to dismiss the request to cancel the reprimand and transfer order issued in April 2022 and to bear all litigation costs.
In December 2021, after the promotion competency evaluation interview for the rank of Chief Superintendent held at the Korea Coast Guard headquarters in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, Lieutenant A returned to his office and suddenly took off his outerwear in the presence of three female police officers.
When another male police officer asked, "Why are you suddenly taking off your clothes?" Lieutenant A stood in front of his bookshelf and made a phone call wearing only his undershirt. One female police officer took a photo of this scene with her mobile phone.
In March of the same year, Lieutenant A forcibly put female police officer B, who was struggling with health deterioration and work burden, on sick leave. B expressed a desire to work from home due to many tasks with fixed deadlines, but Lieutenant A ignored her opinion, had another employee apply for sick leave on her behalf, and personally approved it.
In April 2022, the Korea Coast Guard issued a reprimand, a minor disciplinary action, to Lieutenant A for violating the duty to maintain dignity and the duty of sincerity, and also transferred him to a different workplace.
Three months later, Lieutenant A filed an administrative lawsuit against the Korea Coast Guard Commissioner, claiming that the disciplinary action itself was excessive and that the sudden transfer to a distant location from his home was a form of double punishment.
In the lawsuit, he argued that regarding the removal of his outerwear, "I had to change clothes urgently at the time, and there was a partition installed in front of my office desk," and "another employee happened to see me as they got up from their seat."
Regarding B’s sick leave, he claimed, "It was done with implicit consent," and "It cannot be seen as coercion using authority."
However, the court stated, "There was a restroom near the office where the plaintiff worked where he could have changed clothes," and ruled that it was reasonable to consider it as damaging to dignity.
The court further stated, "There is no fact that B said she would take sick leave," and judged that "forcing B to take sick leave against her will violates the Korea Coast Guard’s code of conduct, which prohibits unfair orders."
The court concluded, "Both acts of misconduct warrant at least a reprimand according to disciplinary standards," and "The disciplinary action received by the plaintiff does not violate the principles of proportionality or prohibition of excessiveness."
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